In a normal season our first half of the season would have been different. That also apply to other clubs who I believe were also affected by the “no preseason” factor. Man City managed to get away with it because of their squad depth, they have so much quality around. But everyone else hit a dip of form. If you look back, there were moments of high and low for everyone. For example; Southampton were one of the better clubs at the start of the season, they were in the top 4. Tottenham and Everton also started the season very strong. You can also use Liverpool and Chelsea as examples, they also had a low moment where they were dropping points.

The previous season Arsenal finished strongly winning the FA Cup and the Community Shield in the process. When we started the new season Arsenal were unbeaten in 7 games and have only concede 2 goals with 5 clean sheets in a run. There was a lot of hype around Arsenal and Arteta which made a lot of people believe that they will be one of the better teams in the new season.

At the start of the new season, Arsenal tried to change the way they play. Arteta wanted to change the formation to 4231 introducing it through a hybrid 343 system that saw the Left-wing back join the midfield to form a three men midfield. This was something that was supposed to be done in pre season. Eventually it failed, because we lacked a number 10 / creative midfielder that can create chances upfield. Willock and Lacazette were used as experiments in the new system but it would not pay off up until late December when Smith Rowe returned from injury. In January we signed Martin Odegaard on loan from Real Madrid to complement Smith Rowe.

The introduction of the number 10 improved Arsenal’s form. They picked up the second most number of points between January and the end of the season. Arsenal also improved their defensive record to the third best in the league during that period. If Arsenal start their 2021/22 campaign maintaining their post January form they will have a chance to finish in the top 4 in the new season.

Premier League form since Christmas Day

Who picked up more points since Christmas Day?

Mikel Arteta deserve credit for turning the form around after a very difficult start. A lot is still to come especially convincing fans and everyone else that he is the right man to take Arsenal forward. Everyone has their opinion but the truth is it is very difficult to speak for him especially after the second 8th league finish and the way we exit the Europa League. Arsenal will be out of Europe for the first time in 25 years. But I would like to be positive and support him because I understand the transition we are going through and the squad we have.

We are far from where we want to be but Mikel deserve time to bring in his own players and play the way he wants. As seen in the table above, we did well in 24 games compared to a lot of the other teams. If it wasn’t for the bad start it would’ve been different. I believe if Arteta starts the new season with a much better squad we can can start seeing his ideas and eventually the team will improve.